Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: Botanists officially added a new ginger lily to the record books. They named it Hedychium zubeengargianum. The fragrant, cream-white flower honors the late Assamese music legend Zubeen Garg.
Dilip Kumar Roy of Birjhora Mahavidyalaya, Bongaigaon University, led the discovery team alongside Rikertre Lytan and Nripemo Odyuo of the Botanical Survey of India in Shillong. They first spotted the plant in 2018 at the BSI botanical garden. Years of taxonomic research followed before they confirmed it as a unique species.
The team published their findings on July 21, 2026, in the June issue of the peer-reviewed journal Phytotaxonomy. The paper is titled Hedychium zubeengargianum (Zingiberaceae), a new ginger lily from Northeastern India.
Researchers chose the name to recognize Garg’s impact on Indian cinema and his work protecting biodiversity. They believe the flower secures his legacy. "The choice of the specific epithet 'zubeengargianum' is a conscious and deeply respectful tribute to the artist's decades of cultural contributions and his unwavering love for nature. By naming this resilient, sweet-scented wild flower after him, we hope his passion for the environment will continue to bloom in the global annals of botany," the researchers said.
This marks the second time researchers honored the singer in 2026. Earlier this year, scientists named a flower found in the grasslands of Manas National Park Osbeckia zubeengargiana. That discovery appeared in the international journal Phytotaxa.
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